Antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules such as free radicals. Flavonoids are phenolic substances widely found in fruits and vegetables. The previous studies showed that the ingestion of flavonoids reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, and certain types of cancer. These effects are due to the physiological activity of flavonoids in the reduction of oxidative stress, inhibiting low-density lipoproteins oxidation and platelet aggregation, and acting as vasodilators in blood vessels. Free radicals are constantly generated resulting in extensive damage to tissues leading to various disease conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer's, renal diseases, cardiac abnormalities, etc., Medicinal plants with antioxidant properties play a vital functions in exhibiting beneficial effects and employed as an alternative source of medicine to mitigate the disease associated with oxidative stress. Flavonoids have existed over one billion years and possess wide spectrum of biological activities that might be able to influence processes which are dysregulated in a disease. Quercetin, a plant pigment is a potent antioxidant flavonoid and more specifically a flavonol, found mostly in onions, grapes, berries, cherries, broccoli, and citrus fruits. It is a versatile antioxidant known to possess protective abilities against tissue injury induced by various drug toxicities.

Trees have made an enormous phytochemical contribution in anticancer drugs' development more than any other life form. The contributions include alkaloids that are biosynthesized in various ways and yield. Lead alkaloids isolated from the trees are taxol and camptothecins that currently have annual sales in billion dollars. Other important alkaloids isolated from these life forms include rohitukine, harringtonine, acronycine, thalicarpine, usambarensine, ellipticine, and matrines. Studies on their mechanism of action and target on the DNA and protein of cancerous cells aided the development of potent hemisynthesized congeners. The molecules and their congeners passed/are passing a long period of historical development before approved as antineoplastic drugs for cancer chemotherapy. Some of them did not find the application as anticancer drugs due to ineffectiveness in clinical trials; others are generating research interest in the antineoplastic activity at the present and have reached clinical trial stages. Potentials in antineoplastic molecules from trees are high and are hoped to be commensurate with cancer types afflicting human society in the future.

Salacia oblonga (S. oblonga), a perennial herb, has been used for thousands of years in ayurvedic medicine and is closely associated with prevention, treatment, and cure of various human ailments such as obesity and diabetes. A vast and wide range of chemical compounds such as polyphenols, friedelane-type triterpenes, norfriedelane-type triterpenes, eudesmane-type sesquiterpenes including various glycosides had been isolated from this plant. This review is aimed to survey the literature covering the phytochemistry and pharmacology of S. oblonga and to review the scientific data including active components and their multi-targeted mechanisms of action against various metabolic syndromes. We also included clinical trials related to this plant in this review. The overview would assist researchers to gather scientific information related to S. oblonga in future.

Neuro-nutrition is the nutrition needed to achieve health brain and neurocognitive function. Diets rich in antioxidants, vitamins, flavonoids, and polyphenolic compounds will help suppress the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Spinacia oleracea (Family: Amaranthaceae) commonly known as spinach or Buai Leng (in Thai), one of the traditional medicinal plants with high in those mention nutrients. The micronutrients in spinach include a range of vitamins and minerals, which can prevent deficiency diseases and are essential for normal physiological function. Its phytochemicals are carotenoids, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds, which can prevent chronic health problems, as well as other diseases associated with aging. The objective of this article was to conduct a review on various ethnomedicinal uses of the spinach and its influences on the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease based on a literature review.

Duranta erecta (family: Verbenaceae) commonly referred to golden dewdrop, pigeon berry, angel whisper, or skyflower is one of the traditional medicinal plants. It has been shown to possess antimicrobial, antioxidant, and insecticide properties. Its phytoconstituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, phenolics, saponins, steroids, tannins, and terpenoids are reported as the basis of its efficacious therapeutic properties. The other important constituents which contribute to the remedial properties are durantol, pectolinaringenin, repennoside, repenins, and scutellarein. Published information on the phytochemical property of D. erecta was gathered by the use of different database platforms, including Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, PubMed, SciFinder, and Scopus, that provided an up-to-date review on its importance.

Citrus aurantifolia (family: Rutaceae) is mainly used in daily consumption, in many cultural cuisines, and in juice production. It is widely used because of its antibacterial, anticancer, antidiabetic, antifungal, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammation, anti-lipidemia, and antioxidant properties; moreover, it can protect heart, liver, bone, and prevent urinary diseases. Its secondary metabolites are alkaloids, carotenoids, coumarins, essential oils, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and triterpenoids. The other important constituents are apigenin, hesperetin, kaempferol, limonoids, quercetin, naringenin, nobiletin, and rutin, all of these contribute to its remedial properties. The scientific searching platforms were used for publications from 1990 to present. The abstracts and titles were screened, and the full-text articles were selected. The present review is up-to-date of the phytochemical property of C. aurantifolia to provide a reference for further study.

Traditional system of medicine consists of large number of plants with various medicinal and pharmacological importances. This article provides a comprehensive review of the complete profile of an important mangrove plant Excoecaria agallocha L. (Euphorbiaceae) and elaborately describing the ethnobotany, phytochemistry, and pharmacological properties. It is used traditionally in the treatment of various diseases such as epilepsy, ulcers, leprosy, rheumatism, and paralysis. The latex obtained from the bark is poisonous in nature and may cause temporary blindness, thus it is also known as the blind-your-eye mangrove plant. Many phytoconstituents were isolated from the plant, which were mainly diterpenoids, triterpenoids, flavonoids, sterols, and few other compounds. The plant also showed many pharmacological activities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antiulcer, anticancer, antireverse transcriptase, antihistamine-release, antifilarial, DNA damage protective, antidiabetic, and antitumor protecting activities. Hence, this review could help guide researchers anticipating to undertake further investigations in these directions.

Eurycoma longifolia (family: Simaroubaceae) is commonly distributed in the Southeast Asia and Indo-China. In particular, the aqueous extract and decoction of its root are a well-known folk medicine which enhances sexuality, fertility, and antiaging. Furthermore, it has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties. Its common phytochemical components include alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, saponins, tannins, and triterpenes. This plant is rich in various quassinoids including eurycolactone, eurycomalactone, eurycomanol, eurycomanone, and eurycomaoside all of which has been reported to contribute to its remedial properties including increased muscle strength, endurance in cycling time, and reduced anxiety and stress. Based on established literature on the health benefits of E. longifolia, this review article has attempted to compile E. longifolia to be one of the choices of ergogenic plants.

GeloMyrtol® and GeloMyrtol® forte, also known as Myrtol® standardized, is an herbal medical product (phytomedicine) obtained by a multistep distillation procedure from essential oils. The major biological marker of in vivo and ex vivo activity of Myrtol® standardized is the monoterpenes, d-limonene, 1,8-cineole, and alpha-pinene. Myrtol® standardized is estimated to have antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial potential while many studies confirmed its secretolytic and bronchospasmolytic effects. As such, the medication is proposed to be initiated in several acute and chronic infections of the upper and lower airway system as acute and chronic rhinosinusitis, acute and chronic bronchitis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This review intends to give an insight into several prescription indications of Myrtol® standardized, all involved mechanisms, and potential advantages toward antibiotic therapy, especially in cases when bacterial infection is uncertain.

Keeping an eye the escalating costs of dental services, the treatment cost of the consequences of dental caries can be reduced to manageable proportions by preventive measures aimed at decreasing the prevalence. One such measure is by increasing the consumption of caries preventive foods. Recently, there has been an upsurge of interest in mushrooms not only as a healthy food but also as a caries preventive food. The most common type of mushroom, Lentinula edodes also called as shiitake, is studied in-depth for its oral health benefits. The cultivation of shiitake dates way back to 1100 A.D. during the rule of Sung dynasty which is replaced by more modern and efficient sawdust substrate log cultures lately. Shiitake mushroom extract can be isolated in various forms such as freeze dried, oil, and ethyl acetate extracts. Various biologically active compounds such as erythritol, copalic acid, adenosine, carvacrol, and many more are responsible for this mushroom's antimicrobial activity. Anticariogenicity can be attributed to the induction of the detachment of cariogenic microorganisms from hydroxyapatite, changes in cell surface hydrophobicity, bactericidal activity, and disruption of signal transduction in Streptococcus mutans as proved through various in vivo and in vitro studies. Apart from these benefits, it has tremendous potential to be used as an antioxidant, anticancer, antigingivitis, antifungal, and antiviral agent. The one and only known adverse reaction due to shiitake mushroom consumption is the eruption of pruritic erythematous papules termed as shiitake dermatitis. This review highlights the unexplored anticaries potential of one such useful bioactive metabolite-shiitake mushroom.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects cells of the immune system and destroys their function. Approximately, 2 million people die every year from HIV as reported by the World Health Organization. HIV/AIDS is difficult to treat as the virus continuously develops resistance to drugs being developed. Approach is now turning toward natural products for the development of anti-HIV drugs. Although HIV/AIDS is not a new disease, but research based on plant-derived products is still under clinical trials. Experimentally, it has been proven that plants have the potential for HIV treatment. The process involves identification of the active ingredients responsible for the reported anti-HIV activities, testing of the extract, and development of appropriate bioassays. Further development would require optimization of the formulation and manufacturing in compliance with preclinical safety and efficacy testing. The most challenging task for the natural product scientists is to separate these highly complex extracts containing several compounds into its individual components that are biologically active. Recently developed direct binding assay with mass spectrometry (MS) technology (viz., real-time time-of-flight-MS) is helpful in this respect but needs extensive optimization. At present, we have compiled all the information for the various phytochemicals present in Terminalia catappa having anti-HIV properties. These include tannins, gallotannins, ellagitannins, cyanidin, and flavonoids. Further, we have also discussed their pharmacological as well as pharmacokinetics studies.